Maui
Day 6 continued -- So we were back in
Makawao and decided to go to the
Market Fresh Bistro for lunch.
http://marketfreshbistro.com/farms/ We ate outside on tables. You go inside to order and they come to your table with the food. The prices are reasonable and the food was very good. I had an ahi sandwich. The salads and other sandwiches were also very good. We had some great brownies for dessert.
The restaurant is at the end of the courtyard.
The restaurant also does weekly dinners with many courses and everything is from local farms. The only problem is that Makawao is long drive from the big hotel areas and is tough to get to at night.
We made another stop at the
Komoda Bakery for some more doughnuts for the trip to
Hana. We then went to Costco again to get some more wine and few other things since there is not much in Hana. We were staying 3 nights in the
Travaasa Hana Hotel http://www.travaasa.com/hana/accomodations/and would not have a kitchen. We dropped the boys off at the airport and went on our way to
Hana.
The Road to Hana or the Hana Highway is not crowded when you go to
Hana in the afternoon as most people and tours go in the morning and come back at night.
We arrived at the hotel in around 2.5 hours and checked in. We had stayed there before in their
Garden rooms. This time we had an
oceanview Sea Ranch cottage room. The hotel is very interesting. It has been there a long time and has had many owners.
Travaasa has owned it for about 4 years. No one knows what to do with the hotel. The location is beautiful and the grounds are gorgeous. The hotel can be very expensive but they do have deals at different times. We found a very good deal on
Luxury Link http://www.luxurylink.com/inventory/main.php?kw=Hana%2C+Maui%2C+Hawaii&dtin=&dtout=&guests=2 that included credits for dinner, spa treatment and activities. The 3 night package came to $1100 with a Luxury Link discount. Expensive but not outrageous.
The problem with the hotel is that it is not a "luxury" hotel. They have never had TV, radio or clocks and the rooms are gorgeous but desperately need updating, especially the beds. There is no air conditioning which is fine, (there are ceiling fans) but the bed was lumpy and the bedding sparse. I believe that they are slowly upgrading the rooms.
Our room.
Sea Ranch Cottages
View from the room.
Hana is very isolated so until recently there were only 2 places to eat dinner - the hotel's very pricey restaurant and the Hana Ranch restaurant across the street, which is not very appealing. We knew this and came prepared. We brought wine with us and we planned to have room service for at least one night.
On one of our previous trips to
Hana we had stayed at a condo with a kitchen and had brought food with us. On the other trip we had stayed at the hotel and just winged it with one night of room service, which was very good. This time, we checked out the restaurant menu and confirmed that we could order room service. Around 7 pm we ordered room service. Our order was a
NY strip steak for $50 plus service charge and some bread. The order arrived promptly. Can't make this up; here is how it was delivered.
The steak came in a cardboard box, like takeout Chinese food and the steak was on top of the mashed potatoes and veggies. The gave us some plastic plates. Wow. The steak was good but it was not Maui beef; it was from the Sierra Nevada ranch, so they said. Apparently the restaurant is run by an Italian restaurant in Lahaina. The restaurant menu does not go with the hotel proclaimed style and is also very expensive. You would not want to eat there more than once.
Our wine with dinner. A very good
Adelsheim Willamette Valley Oregon 2012 Pinot Noir bought at Costco for around $23. The is earthy with decent fruit and we enjoyed. I will drink it again.
Travaasa is a hotel group that pushes a healthy "experiential" stay at their hotels. They have another in Austin. I understand that they have no manager on site and the place is just treading water. We love Hana but would much prefer a place with a kitchen. Things cannot stay the same forever unless we move to
Brigadoon. (There hasn't been a revival for years) Oh well.
Day 7 -- However, lo and behold all kinds of new food places have been opening up in
Hana the last few years.
Thai Food by Pranee and Nutcharee's Authentic Thai Food are open only for lunch. Believe or not they are the same place except 2 different people run them on different days. I believe Nutcharee is Monday through Friday and Pranee is on weekends. The restaurant is a tent like shack in a jungle like area. The food is cooked to order so it can take some time for the food to arrive as the place is packed. The prices are reasonable and the food is terrific. My wife had curry with fish and I had a noodle dish.
BTW
Yelp has the best and most up to date list of places to eat in
Hana.
One of our favorite things about the Hotel Hana is
Hamoa Beach. The hotel is within walking distance of Hana Bay, which is the local hangout and has some facilities.
Hamoa Beach is about 2 miles further down the road and is one of our favorite beaches in the world. It quiet, rustic, gorgeous and best of all the swimming is great. Sandy bottom with some nice waves. It can get quite rough. The best thing is that if you are a guest at the hotel they have a house on the beach with changing rooms and bathrooms and there is an attendant. You show up and he provides chairs, an umbrella and water. This is amazing in Hawaii.
The beach.
The facilities.
For dinner we found out that
Hana Farms has pizza night on Fridays and Saturdays. Called the
Clay Oven, it off the highway behind the
Hana Farms stand in the jungle. There are 2 clay ovens, wood burning and 2 tents for eating on picnic tables. One tent was the "smoking" tent.
The menu.
The take-out box.
Our pizza.
The wine we brought.
Pizza in the jungle.
Hana Farms stand.
We brought wine glasses and wine with us. The wine was a very nice
Chianti Rufina from
Nipozzano. Another Costco special for around $20. Good rustic taste with nice fruit. Will drink again.
The
pizza was very good with a chewy crust and good ingredients. It is hard to get good mozzarella cheese in Hana but they use the best they can obtain. We had a salad with local greens and steak that was huge and very good. The pizza was $17. We sat at a picnic table and had a great time talking to other folks, sharing wine and experiences.
Day 8 -- We drove to the 7 pools which is part of a National Park. There had not been rain in a while so the pools were dry. We had been there when they were full of water and fun to swim in.
For lunch we went to
Braddah's Hut which is a truck with some picnic tables. We had Mahi mahi with rice and it was very good.
Braddah's Hut is only open for lunch.
After lunch I went
horseback riding. It was me and the horse guy. We had a great time riding through the fields along the beach and talking. He gave me lots of info on the hotel and the Hana area. The horse was comfy and knew the way.
The stables.
For dinner I discovered 2 more trucks that were open for dinner. They were a short walk from the hotel. One served tacos and the other Thai food. The trucks were very clean and the food cooked to order.
The Taco truck
The Thai truck.
Satays.
Mahi tacos.
Day 9-- We checked out of the hotel and made the airport in Kahului in 2 hours. We drove in a heavy downpour and the road to Hana was real fun -- downed trees, fog and cascading water falls.
We were flying to
Honolulu for 1 night and it was the day of the Superbowl. With a 5 hour time difference the game started at 1:30 pm in Hawaii. We took the 20 minute flight to Honolulu and took a shuttle to our hotel in
Waikiki - the
Marriott Waikiki Resort. Waikiki is Times Square on the beach and it is not our favorite spot. The hotel was big and not very nice. We checked in and since I am a
gold elite member of Marriott, they gave us some extra perks like faster Internet, free drinks and 1 free buffet breakfast. They do not waive the $30 resort fee for elite members. Resort fees are rip-offs and Marriott should be ashamed. Our room was basic and had a view of Diamond Head and the beach which is pretty.
We rushed off to catch the game. The Marriott had set up a few TVs at their outdoor restaurant but they were small and unwatchable so we went next door to another outdoor restaurant at a hotel and it was a little better. Luckily I did not like either team so we just took it all in stride.
We walked around
Waikiki, just lots of shopping. The
Ala Moana Mall is huge and some of the fanciest shops west of the Short Hills Mall. Apparently it caters to the Japanese as does all of Waikiki. There are at least 3 bus lines that are only for Japanese tourists.
For dinner, we found
Dukes.
http://www.dukeswaikiki.com/ Dukes is a part of a chain and we have eaten at many of them We also had eaten at this one previously. It is very crowded but it has 2 parts- the beach bar and the more formal restaurant. We only had to wait 5 minutes for a ocean front table at he beach bar. We had ribs and conch with a bottle of wine. The wine was a
California Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc from Ferrari Carano for $32, a very good price. We had a great dinner on the beach in Waikiki with a bottle of wine for $65.
The Marriott.
Waikiki.
Dukes famous Hula Pie. Oreo crust, Macadamia nut ice cream and chocolate sauce.
Wine Spectator statistics for 2014.
Ever year the Wine Spectator publishes their statistical round-up of their reviews from the previous year. They reviewed 17,643 wines. The average price of wines that they reviewed was $80. 1% of the wines received a 95 -100; 31% received 90-94; 57% received 85- 90 and 10% received 80-84 and 1% received less than 80. Wine apparently is getting expensive and the quality is unbelievable if you believe the WS. Best quality wines were Champagnes as 87% of Champagnes reviewed received a 90 or better. Washington and Oregon wines were rated very high.
The worst wines rated were California Merlots and Other US wines meaning other than California. Oregon, New York and Washington.
Coming soon Scottsdale and the Cayman Islands updates. I will also have detailed wine reviews in the coming weeks.
Theater tip;
Kelli O'Hara and
Ken Watanabe are starring in the
King and I at Lincoln Center this Spring. Previews start March 12. I am hoping it will be great.
http://www.lct.org/shows/king-and-i/?gclid=CIPT9bXph8QCFeFj7AodBigAoA Kelli O'Hara's last 2 musicals (
Far from Heaven and The
Bridges of Madison County) have not been my cup of tea but she is great.
Enjoy. Our winter is not ending here in NJ. It is snowing as I write this.
